Top 6 favourite ways to use Off-Camera Flash Creatively During the Holidays | by Laura Froese
While I use my off-camera flash primarily to create soft, believable "window" light in dim or dark interiors, I actually first learned to use my flash as a creativity enhancer to my photography. I was sticking it in things, behind things, and pushing the limits of my lenses' apertures to create pretty starbursts of light long before I adopted a more functional use of the gear. This is a shockingly inexpensive way to enhance your images.
I never purchase brand-name lighting gear, largely because I'm rough with my gear and it can get knocked over on weddings so I want it to be replaceable, but also because I find that the off-brand flashes can put out almost as much light as name brand ones if you purchase the right models. I started off with Younguo, but have since moved on to Godox as my go-to flash and trigger brand. But enough about the technical side of things. Let's explore my top 6 favourite ways to use flash around the holiday season.
1. Unmodified Bare Flash
I love using it just as an unmodified, bare flash bounced off walls to light up the interior of my home to create well-lit narratives while I shoot from outside. It gets dark so early in the winter that this comes in really handy. It allows me to clearly see my subjects without pumping in a ton of grain and while allowing me to use forgiving apertures when shooting from outside.
2. Inside the Magic
I love putting it inside of something to create that sense of magic without relying exclusively on Photoshop. While using Photoshop to enhance the image is always fun, I like my actual source of light to be real and authentic so it falls across my subjects' faces in a believable way.
3. Off-Camera Flash
I rely on off-camera flash to take our annual couch pajama photo because we always do it after school when it's dark out. We also always take it along this wall, and there are actually no windows in this room other than a skylight directly above which is unhelpful.
4. Storytelling
It's fun to use flash as a main story element in and of itself - to create a sense of wonder, or pull toward another world. While this isn't exclusively holiday themed, I do find myself often creating these scenes around this time of year as the pretty golden light is gone and the weather forces us to find more creativity in indoor spaces.
5. With Christmas Lights
It can be paired up with Christmas lights nicely! I can focus on getting my camera settings how I want them to bring those string lights into the scene and then fill in the light on my subject with my flash. Sometimes I even add a coloured gel for extra fun.
6. Backlight for Snow
I love using it as backlight for snow - either real or artificial snow. One thing to note here is that you either need to take images like this in the daytime against a dark background so that you can see the subject's face, or you need to use a second flash in front of your subject if doing this kind of shot at night. A gel can be fun here too.
So whether you prefer using flash in a functional way, or as a creative boost to your work, the winter season is the perfect time to pull it out. If you're looking to learn more (and already have a basic foundation on how to fire your flash off camera), our workshop "Creative Expression with OCF" is running this month! If you're brand new to using a flash off of your camera body, and don't know where to start, you can grab a copy of "OCF For Your Everyday" and then be added to the live run that starts in January.
